FIRST - Who cares....

so the Hong Kong associates have to be in the office at 12am?!! Maybe this is normal.

Its either work at Mayer Brown at 12 am or sell eel skins on the street...

Still no announcement on any bonus for any office in the firm! Rumors are flying that it's no special bonus, just regular, even in NY.

Lat at the gay journalist party

http://www.metroweekly.com/scene/?k=953

I won't say what it is, but it is lame, and the fact that they are trying to make a big deal out of it instead of addressing issues like bonuses, indictments and widespread associate AND PARTNER dissatisfaction with the way that the firm is being run speaks volumes about how far this place has fallen.

I wonder who, against all contrary prior vows, wishes that Bob were back in charge.

I won't say what it is, but it is lame, and the fact that they are trying to make a big deal out of it instead of addressing issues like bonuses, indictments and widespread associate AND PARTNER dissatisfaction with the way that the firm is being run speaks volumes about how far this place has fallen.

I wonder who, against all contrary prior vows, wishes that Bob were back in charge.

Cybertron to 190!

@1:24 you're so right. lame it is. new logo. and yes, please reinstall Bob.

1:24 ... doesn't MB usually not announce bonuses until January? This is lame though.

1:24 ... doesn't MB usually not announce bonuses until January? This is lame though.

MB announces boni (yes, that's the right way to spell it because it's latin) in January. And they're greedy, i.e. they often match but less than 50% of the associates actually get a bonus.

btw - did you guys know that Ted Steven's (Rep. Alaska) wife works at MB: http://www.mayerbrown.com/lawyers/profile.asp?hubbardid=S258495510&lawyer_name=Stevens%2C+Catherine+Ann

really less than 50%? I don't believe that

1:40: not sure where you get your info - NY office, at least, gives bonuses pretty much across the board, regardless of hours, even when a department hasn't been doing that well. At least, that's been the case in past years...

it's not less than 50%... you get a bonus if you hit 2000

Who is Bob? If you mean the 6th last Chairman of the firm, I assume you've been around long enough to remember when bonuses are usually announced, in which case can you comment on that also?

ok - I have to specify: less than 50% if the DC associates get a bonus. If your department sucks you can hit 3000 and you won't get anything. Pro rata will not be paid if you're not there for 365 days. Maternity leave included. Now THAT's stingy, isn't it?

Lat you keep putting up the wrong logo for MB. They have a new one now which has been on their website for months now...

wow RE: dc. I enjoyed the DC office when I interviewed there

wow RE: dc. I enjoyed the DC office when I interviewed there

Re Ted Stevens wife... I believe they're both friends with the last chairman of the firm, the former Republican A-G for the great state of Illinois. NY historically game "boni" across the board. I am not sure that's the case any more on account of the disparity between eg structured finance and, say, real estate in terms of how hard they work.

There is no way that MB pays special bonuses outside of NY, and they may not even pay them there. No way they are paying them in Chicago, especially after all the recent things going on and the state of the credit markets.

They will probably pay the standard market bonus in NY (no special) and pay the standard hours-based bonuses they always pay in Chicago and all their other major offices. Bonuses in Chicago are already announced and unchanged since they matched Sidley's bonuses (with some differences here and there) 2 or 3 years ago. You can find this grid by looking for it. In Chicago, they don't pay until late February or early March, but don't count on hearing anything exciting about what they are paying before then.

Their grid will put 2300 billers around market (without special) and 2400 billers $10-$20k above market (without special). The worst part is that, even in a year where the last three months have been dead, many securitization and bankng types are around 2500 or 2600, and they get exactly what they would with 2400.

Is it common among biglaw to apply pro rata bonus rate for maternity leaves?

The plural form of bonus is bonuses, not boni. HTH.

The frat stud form of bonus is boner. And its no big deal.

Some would be offended that you assumed Mayer Brown was previously a man.

I mean, Paul Weiss is definitely a man, but Mayer Brown... sounds kinda like Murphy Brown.

A merger seems unlikely. Probably restructuring the firm somehow, shuffling management or practices around, i.e. a non-event. Or moving to some kind of Jones Day bonus structure.

Perhaps MB is about to become more "streamlined" or "agile" by firing some people

2:03: You didn't get it. Stupid.

WHO CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mayer is leaving and they're gettng someone who has a "w" in their name. Consistency across the line is important.

I love sitting here thinking about my big boni.

Mayer Brown to hire David Lat as a lateral Associate?!

two-tiered associate track?

The firm is merging with Bingham.
That's right. You heard it from me.

Yipee Kaa Ye...

Guys in my high school used to have transformational events, 'twas no big deal...

Mayer Brown to $180?

would an increase in salary really be transformational?

2:45 is correct. Cue the Drudge siren.

Bingham eh?

I'm guessing that a merger with Bingham would mean that Bingham has to have a meeting tomorrow as well. Any insiders care to share a memo? If Bingham has nothing planned, then I call BS. Which, frankly, I do anyway.

Doubtful.

Here's an article breaking the news about the pending merger:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20020129/ai_n9612951

...you do realize that article's from 2002, right?

SlowDog: haha :)

You're kidding, 3:21. Next you're going to tell me that it wasn't actually JT's dick in the box.

Sidley NY "stub" bonuses are 10 G's this year. Nice.

hey 3:24 - shut up.

anyone know anything about Sidley non-NY stub bonuses?

what is a stub bonus? or is it rather a stud bonus?

They're going to merge with Goodman, Chesnoff & Keach so they can call the new firm Brown Oscar Mayer.

Mr. Lat, I saw you at the gay journalist event in NYC- you look yummy :)

Bingham has called a meeting for 3pm tomorrow.

they're announcing an asian acquisition

ShowDog - good work. I laughed out loud.

The new firm will be called "M4y3r B1ngh4m". It will be the most 1337 firm anywhere.

I've heard the firm is acquiring the State of Rhode Island

I heard MB is instituting an OSHA-type calendar:

Days Since MB Partner Indicted By SEC:
3

funny 418. Mayer Brown Is reaquiring the ROWE & MAW and going back to MBRM

They are merging with DLA Piper. Will now be known as DLA Mayer.

DLA Mayer will be merging with Baker & McKenzie and will now be known as the Borg.

The Bingham story is true. The firms have already bought the domain name Mayerbingham.com.

The Borg will establish offices in all former soviet republics.

bingham is suing mayer. they are not merging.

4:47--"The firms have already bought the domain name Mayerbingham.com."

If so, they did a poor job of it. It still shows as available.

Binghammayer.com is also available.

4:50 -- The suit will be settled as part of the merger agreement.

Resistance is futile...

...and 3 hours after I posted, I think I finally get the joke.

period, not sex change... "transformative" could go either way, though, I still think

Rumor is Hillary, dropping in the polls, is quitting the Presidential race and she and Bill are joining the firm as co-Managing Partners.

Sidley pays bonuses like Sheppard Mullin

Mayer Brown has decided to focus exclusively on divorce law. Truly transformative.

Maybe they are hiring the WSJ's Lawyer of the Year. Sounds newsworthy enough to me.

3:49 is correct.

american lawyer law firm of the year.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/83e92ccc-af6b-11dc-880f-0000779fd2ac.html

Getting rid of all the rest of the non equity partners?

They added offices in China (Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai), Thailand (Bangkok, Phuket) and Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi)

Well, if you can't cut it in North America, South America or Europe, you might as well try out Asia.

Merging w/ Hong Kong firm Johnson, Stokes & Master

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-071220mayer,0,864421.story

Merging w/ Johnson, Stokes & Master

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-071220mayer,0,864421.story

"Well, if you can't cut it in North America, South America or Europe, you might as well try out Asia."

right. because they have 11% growth last year, the largest latin american practice in Chicago (by far), and the european offices are more profitable than the us ones?

Re 11:24pm - the Lat Am practice in Chicago comprises one partner and a handfull of interns. Is that the best you can offer up? By global standards it's not even a boil on an elephant's butt. The 11% "growth" in USD terms was (a) made during a bull market and, in context, is derisory, and (b) is largely due to the inflated results from Europe which are due in large part to the devalutation of the USD. The London office recorded single figure growth last year, against an average of about 30% from even third tier firm. The PPP is Europe are actually quite low. The PEP (which is probably what you are referring to) is hugely inflated by the number of FSP's the have. You've lost 100+ partners in no time at all and have USD8bn in law suits (and counting) - get your head out of the Mayer Brown bucket of sand. Your firm hasn't been cutting it for years, in the US, LatAm or Europe.

So, if Baker McKenzie is the McDonald's of law firms . . . is Mayer trying to become the Wendy's?

I think that DLA Piper Rudnick already has dibs on the Wendy's space. Some of the press is hilarious. Describing the HK firm as "arristocrats" and Ms Lo's comments that revenues will reach US$4bn within a short time frame made me laugh in particular. Reminds me of some of the press releases from the MBP R&M merger, where Mayer Brown touted R&M as a "leading London firm" to the sniggers of leading firms everywhere in London. Kudos to MB though, the acquisition of an office in Phuket is a real coup for the firm.

only one statement in 5:13's email is correct. she/he has no idea what she/he is talking about.

agree with 8:47 though, the US$4bn claim is ridiculous. I bet people look back on that quote in three years and laugh (while the firm is at $1.5bn or something).

5:15 - Before writing off my comments, you might also want do a little check on the internet to see (a) what the firm itself has said they are making on PEP v PPP basis, both in the US and London and (b) what the dollar has done over the course of the last two years. It's a simple mathematical equasion to get to the conclusions above about profits, etc. The rest of the email (100 plus partners, number of LatAm partners) comes straight from public sources or MB's own website. If the firm publishes accurate figures this year, it will show (at best) flat revenue and significantly lower PEP and PPP - all this in an apparently booming market. In the press releases they put out, they say the combined firm is US$1.3bn in revenue, of which the new firm is US$260m. They alleged that they made US$1bn last year, which means there revenues have gone up by a mere US$40m this year. NB the dollar has sunk more than 10% against the EUR and GBP, so even if they stayed flat they should show a gain in revenue solely due to the increase (in USD) of the value of EUR and GBP revenue they earnt in Europe. Can you back up your conclusionary statement with any evidence?

9:01 - Before writing off my comments, you might also want do a little check on the internet to see (a) what the firm itself has said they are making on PEP v PPP basis, both in the US and London and (b) what the dollar has done over the course of the last two years. It's a simple mathematical equasion to get to the conclusions above about profits, etc. The rest of the email (100 plus partners, number of LatAm partners) comes straight from public sources or MB's own website. If the firm publishes accurate figures this year, it will show (at best) flat revenue and significantly lower PEP and PPP - all this in an apparently booming market. In the press releases they put out, they say the combined firm is US$1.3bn in revenue, of which the new firm is US$260m. They alleged that they made US$1bn last year, which means there revenues have gone up by a mere US$40m this year. NB the dollar has sunk more than 10% against the EUR and GBP, so even if they stayed flat they should show a gain in revenue solely due to the increase (in USD) of the value of EUR and GBP revenue they earnt in Europe. Can you back up your conclusionary statement with any evidence?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri_firm_1221dec21,1,7128512.story